Exciting stuff.
I’m happy to introduce our first poster for The Year After Infection.
There are 5 posters planned.
Here is the finished artwork for Spring:
Spring One Sheet
All posts by Tony
Lessons I’ve Learned #1
So, with no more crew members to tap for blog posts, I’ve taken a brief hiatus from editing to usher in my triumphant and glorious return to the keyboard, and I can feel the wondrous afterglow radiating from the 40,000 of you that are tuning in.
I know. I know. You just couldn’t wait for me to get back… big hug. I’ve missed you too.
When I started this blog, I said I would be honest, and give you this whole thing warts and all. So after all this, I’ve decided it’s time to share the lessons I’ve learned while going through this whole process. Hopefully this is going to help some other aspiring film maker down the line. And I’ve decided to kick it off with the most important lesson of all:
Lesson #1
Love What You’re Creating
Now, this sounds obvious, but through the course of this I’ve had multiple script and story ideas thrown at me from all kinds of people. Some sound pretty good. And the one thing I can tell each and every one of them with absolute sincerity is, you had better produce a script and a story and characters that you have fallen in love with, because you’re about to be married to them.
I’ve been hip deep in TYAI for almost 2 years now. Two years of surrendering every spare moment, to either write, or film, or edit or design or build. The list of tasks that goes into any film is humongous. Loving what you’re creating keeps you working on it. It keeps you editing. It keeps you trying. We had 57 filming days over the course of a year. You better believe loving what you’re creating matters.
Sure you could treat it like a fling. Sure you could give your story the Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am treatment. And you know what? It will be apparent to everyone who sees it after the fact. (Ever watched a Michael Bay film?)
Loving what you’re creating keeps you from cutting corners. It keeps you shooting until you get that one perfect take. It keeps you scouting for the perfect location. It keeps you looking for that perfect actor. If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, really, find something else to do. More importantly, it will drag your ass back out onto location to reshoot something you’ve already done, because you know it’s not right, or as good as it could be.
It doesn’t hurt to be a little obsessive.
Almost every day of shooting I wore a Star Wars baseball cap. Occasionally someone would ask me if I was a Star Wars fan. I would tell them no. Usually this would be followed with “then why wear the hat?”. My answer was always “it’s a reminder”.
Reminder of what? you ask…
Don’t ever kid yourself. There is no way to be objective when it’s your creation. So you know what you MUST DO. Surround yourself with honest people. People that will tell you shit is shit. Do this at all stages. Do it when you’re writing. Do it when you’re shooting. And Do it when you’re editing. If it don’t work for them, it isn’t going to work for anyone else. And more importantly, just like a relationship, listen. Really listen. If the crew you surround yourself with can’t be honest, or constantly blow sunshine up your ass, get a new crew. And more importantly, let them be honest. Don’t be defensive. Let them tell you why something doesn’t work. Film is a collaborative process. Let them collaborate.
The most satifying feeling in the world is showing those people a finished scene that they helped create, and have them genuinely be wowed by it. These are the people that should be the least impressed. They were there when it was being done, and if you can get a “Wow” out of them, you know the people who haven’t seen anything yet will be impressed too.
As an indy film, we don’t have the resources that a big picture has, but that doesn’t mean you have to produce schlock. And plenty of big budget movies are guilty of scrimping on the script. We don’t need a story… we have production design, or special effects or star power. Well, If I ever utter those words, any cast or crew member is hereby granted the right to slap the taste out of my mouth.
And I’ll just go ahead and say it, flat out. The Prequels sucked. And why did they suck? They had production design. They had star power. They had special effects out the wazoo… and for all of that, you can watch them and just know, soul deep, nobody was allowed to say “Hey George, this sucks. ”
Thus… the hat. The reminder.
This all goes back to loving what you’re creating. Love it enough to be honest with it. Love it enough to rewrite it. Love it enough to reshoot it. Do that, and when it’s all said and done, you’ll love it even more, because you’ll know it’s right.
Hope you enjoyed this. Please give it a share or a mention.
Or if you didn’t, leave a comment why… I’m all ears. Really.
Little Miss Sunshine
Greco’s Editing Nightmares won’t be seen this week. After a month solid of editing, getting everything to it’s nearly finished form. The last bits are just about finished, and instead of my bleary-eyed, computer glazed over eyes telling you exactly how tedious and time consuming the whole editing process is, we bring you the last of the crew blogs, from our resident ray of sunshine Kelly.
She’s fun, funny, a great talent behind a camera, and willing to do whatever to get a shot. Exactly the kind of person you want to work with. Our long time readers will remember that we lost Kelly after beginning to shoot Summer due to a new job. But due to a wonderful series of circumstances (not really) , a sizable ransom, a team of crack mercenaries were hired, sent into an area department store, I am pleased to report that Kelly was returned to us unharmed.
Kelly writes:
Sooooo, as you heard we are done with shooting and it feels very bittersweet. (yeah, clichéd I know however, my word document thesaurus isn’t giving me anything better) Anyway, I will miss filming A lot, yet I can’t wait to finally see the film all together and also see how every one of our fabulous fans react to the finished product, yay! As some of you may know I was a camera person on The Year after Infection and was lucky enough to be a part of almost every aspect of the film.
The only time I was not there was when I accepted a job for about 3 months at a department store selling kids shoes which was definitely an adventure in itself. I must say, there is nothing like tying a child’s shoes then looking up in their bright face just long enough to catch a juicy droplet of saliva landing right between the eyes. Oh and I couldn’t possibly forget seeing the crazed look in the parent’s eye when you tell them you don’t have the shoe they want for their “little darlings”. Let’s just say, even though I wasn’t working on a horror film at that time I was definitely still getting the whole creepy vibe. Some of the things you witness in retail have the potential to haunt you the rest of your life. Retail Hell, it’s no joke.
So I’ve never filmed a movie before, or acted, or really anything regarding a talent. Don’t feel bad most of it was due to me just not trying. I do like drawing, however most of that was killed by an art teacher in the third grade who held up my project to the class asking “who does this….thing belong to?”
At least you could tell what I was drawing unlike Joe what’s his name in the corner who ate his boogers and thought Elmer’s glue made a delicious midafternoon snack. (Admit it there’s always one, unless you’re it, then you can keep it to yourself) Anyway, let’s just say I hadn’t really found my niche until I started helping out with the film. What an amazing experience, I would say you should try making one sometime but seeing our director and producers put in that immense amount of hard work, and believe me I know what hard work looks like. I’ve spent many years avoiding it, I figure it’s really not for everyone.
On the second day of filming I was asked to work the second camera. At first I thought they were joking, thus after the fifth time of hearing “no really” I decided to accept the offer before they changed their minds. My first mission: walk across a dark field backwards while keeping one of the three actors in frame, sounds easy enough. Now before I continue I must say that this field was not that large yet took all of two nights to shoot. So, there I was slowly walking across the field, and thinking to myself my feet are soaked from the dew, I’m tired, I’m still a little shaky from the shock I received earlier from trying to plug stuff in on the dewy ground, and I’m having the absolute best time EVER! Mike said it best when he said “The absolute worst day of filming is better than the greatest day at our regular jobs.”
The very last day of filming just passed us and I must say what a great note to end on. I also got the great pleasure of two of my marvelous parents, Bill and Laurie, being there and one (my dad) actually got to be a reporter! I’m not just saying this because he’s my dad, but he did absolutely incredible. I guess after so many years of thinking your parents are lame the phase ends and luckily in my case it was replaced by this truly talented individual who can act, and write/play his own music. (You’ll hear some of it in the film!) Anyway, I just had to give a shout out to my dad! So proud of you!
So, that’s pretty much it for me, I hope you all enjoy the movie!!
The Mike Breaks His Silence
As I finish up editing duties, this week blog is so big it has to be introduced by Three Hosts
It’s time to hand the blog over to our resident tamed sound man.
Some say that in the front of his pants is another microphone.
and that he whistles while he works, but only dogs can hear it.
All’s we know is, he’s called “The Mike”
This week comes to you from a DQ in Hillsboro. Sponsored by the letter B, and the number 437. I’m not sure what it is but I cannot write at home. My mind is a jumbled mess. Put me in a fast food restaurant with a cheeseburger , fries and a coke and I’m good for at least a good hour or more of solid writing. It does sound like a lot of time but I can crank out a good chunk of material. So in addition to the next screen play we will be filming, I’m taking over for Tony on this weeks blog. We took last weekend off for the holiday. Even if we wanted to shoot last weekend, It’s impossible to get things together on a holiday weekend. And we have tried before… FAIL. And we have tried again… FAIL
So this weekend I’m to film the last two shots for the opening scene. Finally when someone asks me “Hey, are you done filming yet?”, I can say “Fuck Yeah!” Don’t get me wrong, I love filming. I wish I could have done this years ago, but I’ve moved back to St. Louis almost two years ago. Just months before we started production and haven’t seen most of my friends in months. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was out at a bar or club or concert or anything like that. To say I was in a drought would be kind.
Back to this weekend! We have enlisted the help of family again. Lisa is to fill the role of a reporter. She checks all the boxes: Professional. Check. Pretty. Check. Has wardrobe. Check. We’re glad she is one of our biggest fans. When you talk to her about the film, she lights up like a girl who just got a pony for her birthday. It’s nice to have someone outside of the crew and cast to be as genuinely excited as you are.
Any way, if all goes well, Tony can say”Cut” for The Year After Infection.
But wait! It’s not over yet. Haven’t you learned yet, not to leave during the credits. You could miss something.
T in da HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And as I am still editing away this weeks blog post was written by Tina, or just plain old T. T-money. T-dawg. T-rannosaurus Wrecks. T-Bag. Hey-T. I think you get the gist…. I know what you’re thinking… you have time to make these stupid pictures, but not enough time to write a blog. Well, the answer is… YES. That’s exactly right.
Anyways we interrupt this infomercial as T writes:
Breaking news from the KCUF News Team…
We are down to the last scene to be shot and winter editing is pretty well complete!
It has been a very eventful year + of filming and the project is almost complete…bitter sweet isn’t it?
Q & A
Q: What will I do with my weekends now?
A:
- Not inhale toxic smoke.
- Not shovel unknown materials out of a barn.
- Not stand in 35 degree water.
- Not spend 10 hours waste deep maneuvering canoes.
- Not deal with Sullivan Missouri’s finest. (You know who you are)
- Not drive up to Hannibal while there is a blizzard.
- Not clean up a half blown away home that smelled of mold.
Q: What was your favorite filming day?
A: It is truly hard to pick one…there are so many talented people on this film, and there were so many fun days! One that stands out to me thought was the evening at the barn, in the middle of the night when the bats were dive bombing Joe…we had to stop filming because somebody in the general vicinity was having a karaoke party…noise travels in the middle of nowhere you know? There was a lot of laughing that night.
Q: What was your least favorite filming day?
A: Hands down…diving into the water that was 35 degrees in November. I use to love being in the water, swimming, boating, canoeing…now I am scared for life. Just kidding I still love all these things…when it is 80 + degrees.
On behalf of the whole crew…it has been a pleasure working with all of you! You all are very talented, fun to work with and we hope you all have successful careers!
HEY THERE.
Tony May’s again. If you act now I will throw in this Teaser Trailer absolutely FREEEEEEE. So act now!
And Now a Word…
The Joy of Editing will not be seen this week…
Okay, so I’m completely swamped with editing duties right now, so in true TYAI style, I’ve enlisted some of the behind the scenes folks to write a bit, so you can get their take on their experiences with the film making process.
This week’s entry is Karen
Ok, bear with me. Because now I am sitting in that same damn kitchen and I have never done this before.
It has been a very long journey from when we started until now and we are almost there. I never thought we would see the finish line that is just right around the corner and I am not sure how any of us are supposed to feel. Relief, that we actually did it! A little sadness that it’s almost over & very grateful for the amazing people we have met on the way.
We have traveled from one end of Missouri to the other. Spent almost a month cleaning and setting up a hundred year old barn, that a wonderful woman & her husband in Washington let us use. Burned hay that glowed greenish yellow in 100 degree weather, when it rained we thought we were in heaven it would stop and we thought we would die.
Spent nights playing with the bugs, bats and one very ornery gopher, and with all of that the cast & crew were a blast, even on some of the hardest nights until the wee hours in the morning the just kept going with the best of attitudes. They are a joy to work with!
Moving on to the next location that I think had to be one of the hardest to work with outside, very large cast, crew & extras. Weather challenges, scheduling, constant change in location, hours of driving and countless visits from the surrounding population (some very nice & some that stopped us filming all together.) Countless encounters with officers of the law that thankfully turned out to be very cool and fun to talk to.
We know your jobs are not easy and running into us had to be strange to say the least. So thank you, gentlemen & ladies for your understanding, help, & some very good advice!
Props to the cast, extras & crew that would not give in. Even after the encounters with strangers toting guns, being sprayed with rocks the never ending interruptions from weather, planes, cars, boats, some very interested drunks, and live bands that you could hear for miles.
Then off to Hannibal! To an old 3 story building with the promise of heat LOL that happened to be on every floor but the one we were on Ha. I would love to give the owners name and plug his business but can’t without his permission. He not only let us invade his place of business but let us rearrange his entire top floor. We would show up unexpected stay all day and he was nothing but helpful.
He even found a location that was so much better than the one we had chosen, introduced us to his friend that had never met us before, who invited into his home and his sons stayed and helped us out THANK YOU!
Hannibal was a very cool city. The surrounding business owners would come out to watch and not once caused a problem we would yell action and everyone went silent I even turned to see a woman and her 4 children getting ready to cross the street and she pulled them back had them be very quiet until the director yelled cut and she went on her way like this happened every day. Hannibal was like the twilight zone and I can’t say enough kind things about the people there.
Our very ornery cast never faltered. Always on time happy to be there, came up with some very good ideas and made everything seem so easy.
Our next location was mostly outside in the snow yes very cold again. One of our longest drives in Vandalia and a very wonderful family and I do mean the entire family!
Our smallest cast. An amazing little boy with a hell of a lot of talent! & a very quiet, kind man with a beautiful voice and talented! He made every thing look so easy and natural you sometimes forgot what you were doing and just stood and watched them in some cases you actually felt like you were intruding thank you guys so much!
Nichole Fills You in on the Last Day of Shooting
Alright, so I’m late on the blog, and I’m busy, busy, busy editing, but fortunately, Nichole wrote the most amazing blog post… fun, funny and spoiler free….so give her a read, and I’ll be posting this weeks blog soon(ish). So enjoy one of the movie’s stars take on the final day of filming:
http://www.nicholefischer.com/?page_id=108
40 Minutes, 23.5 Seconds
Int:
Oh, you know where I’m at. The same damn kitchen, sitting at the same damn computer….
There’s something strange about finishing editing all this snowy footage together in a week where we are having heat warnings. After hours and hours and hours of work, the rough cut of segment 4, Winter, is finished. Can you guess what the rough cut run time is?
It will be trimmed down a bit, hopefully to about the 35 minute mark. I’m afraid it will feel long, but honestly, I won’t know until we screen if for the crew, and start getting some brutally honest feedback. What I do know is, there won’t be any pickup shots needed.
So now, there’s only two items that remain. The pickup shots for this weekend. Roughly 15 shots. Just enough to make a day of it. Then three shots for the intro, which equals about a day of running and shooting.
I can honestly say I’m exhausted, and a little worked up, and even a little nervous about this weekend. So much to do… one day to do it. It’s going to be a long day… but apparently a fairly nice one. 85 degrees is the forecast. A nice break from the 90+ degree days we’ve been having. I know the Summer cast is rip roaring and ready to go, and Karen has been busting ass for the last three weeks getting every detail sorted, in between running around getting the intro shots done.
Speaking of the intro shots, we actually shot the very first shot of the movie Saturday evening. Funny that it would be so close to last. So a huge shout out to our intro shot cast members Arron, Hannah, John, Kayli, Liz and last but not least Greg. Thank you all for showing up and shooting in the dark, and thank you even more for nailing it in 4 takes!
Don’t worry, there’s still plenty more to do, and plenty more to talk about. And I do mean plenty…
Editing… editing…editing
Int:
A windowless office decorated with movie props and posters.
Sorry no update last week. I was in editing hell. I had started an entry, and by about the middle of it, I decided to do you all a favor and not post it. Boring stuff, is boring…
So, this hasn’t been the most action packed of weeks. It’s been a lot of editing and preparation for the upcoming June 11th shoot. At the end of the day, it’s a good thing we didn’t schedule because we’ve been inundated with rain, and not the gentle spring shower kind.
We also picked up our cut acrylic on Friday, which will be used for the title sequence. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. I wonder if it will survive the shoot…
Saturday, however, was action packed and we started the day with lots to do. I was up late (of course) and we went and shot some publicity stills with the lovely Trinka, who couldn’t possibly have looked any prettier, and we had a stand in for Stan. Set up seemed to took forever, but once we were rolling things went well. After that, some quick audio recording to dub over some bad audio from Spring. There’s a fine line between ambiance and racket. The bugs were too loud, and they had to go., ironically, to be added back in on a second audio track, and turned way, WAY down.
A farewell hug to my lovely leading lady, and we were off to Clayton to shoot one of the intro shots with Scott. We found the perfect spot, I told everybody what I wanted, helped position all three of the cameras, and we were shooting. Got it in eight takes. Not a record, but speedy. Then it was off to the airport to shoot a second intro shot. Found the perfect spot, and we’re shooting again. Afterwards, despite the fact that we were in a location where it’s okay to shoot, everyone confessed they were afraid that security was going to pull up and confiscate all our gear. It didn’t happen, but everyone thought it.
Then it was back to home base to pull footage and start editing.
How do I know editing is action packed and a thrill a minute? Because everyone was asleep by 11:30 on a Saturday… except Tina. Who actually watched with some interest while the sequences we shot were put together.
Editing is the least exciting and most crucial part of this whole process. It’s a frame by frame game that every film maker has to deal with. With some films, they’re worried about being short, so they tend to pad out scenes. Not so with us. I’m worried about running long, and so every frame counts. If it doesn’t forward the story, onto the virtual cutting room floor it goes. I’m trying to keep each segment to 35 minutes or less, but that’s proving difficult sometimes. There’s so much great stuff in there, you want to use it all. It’s a matter of choosing the best of the best, and it can be a painful experience. There may be some great facial expression or movement that you really want to use, but you only get to choose one. And with our spectacular cast, they didn’t make it easy. Watching the same two or three takes over and over to see which one is the best to use, or which parts of each take to use is as tedious as it sounds. But it’s also pretty fulfilling. When you string together a bunch of great pieces, and you set a scene for output, you can’t wait to actually see it all put together. This frame, cut, that frame stays, that one gone. It’s all very intuitive and feels like painting in a dark room sometimes. You never really know how the finished piece is going to come out until you’re all finished, and watching it for the first time is like seeing it all for the first time.
Anyways, that’s enough rambling. This week we have a full schedule, and it’s a short week. We are doing the last of our prep for the June 11 shoot, and we’ll be shooting two intro sequences this weekend. Almost there. Just the sprint to the finish line….
Stay tuned!
Had to share this
Customizable Zombie action figures!!!!
Too Cool!
So, What’s Left???
Int:
That same old damn kitchen
So we’re in final edit mode. We have some pickup shots for Summer that need to be done, and some minor stuff to do for the intro. It’s all coming together quite nicely.
Sadly though, according to this guy the world is going to end on Saturday. And the CDC posted an article about the Zombie apocalypse and emergency preparedness here. Coincidence? I think not. So, with the rapture coming on Saturday, you might want to change your plans, and make sure you’re not driving. With it being Thursday, you still have time to get your shit together before the biting and screaming starts. Me. I’m going to Ben’s house.
I guess it’s a good thing we won’t be doing pickup shots this weekend, because nothing disrupts a shoot like having to get all set up, and then having to yell “CUT!” beating a zombie to death, and then have to get set back up.
This past weekend, we got some minor stuff taken care of, while I edited Winter together, which I’m about 1/3 through, and hoping to make more progress on this coming weekend, while we do a couple of shots for the intro. Sadly, talking about editing is about as interesting as watching editing. You know why they call it Post production? Because it’s about as interesting as talking to a post… feel free to steal that one.
The Summer pick up shots have to wait for June 11th, because of scheduling. I’m a little upset about the delay, but I suppose it’s better than having to stand in freezing water again. The shots are all just little things, but they’re necessary. The edit of Summer starts off really well, but with the rush to beat the weather, it starts to fall apart by the time we get to the end. There are some shots that just have to be there and it’s also a chance to fix some things I’m not happy with… So we’re rounding up most of the cast, and getting ready to do one more filming day. It will be a full day. No doubt about that, but at least we’ll have plenty of time to prep.
There’s something that just feels appropriate about ending with the Summer cast. Don’t ask my why… Maybe it has to do with some of my favorite cast members being there. Maybe it’s just time for an outdoor shoot where everyone isn’t standing outside in the snow freezing their asses off.
All this is pretty boring stuff, no doubt about it. The only other spot of news at the moment is I’m thinking of doing a photo shoot, because while I have a bunch of concepts for the poster (six or seven, I’ve lost count), I’m not really happy with any of them. Still back-end processing that one. We’ll come up with something…
I sure do hope this whole end of the world thing doesn’t screw up our submitting to all the film festivals. I was hoping the Mayan’s were right, and we’d have until December 2012 to get this out there.
Alright, I have to go and sharpen knives and count ammo and such, while I hum the Rambo theme. If the world doesn’t end this Saturday, I’ll be back next week with some actual news. If the world ends and the internet is still running, I’ll be back with some news. And if the world ends and there’s no internet, I’ll go spray paint next weeks blog on a wall somewhere…
More to come. Stay tuned.
Winter is Wrapped!
Int:
Vandalia IL, and Cottleville MO
A beautiful, sunshiny, warm weekend. I almost forgot what those were like. Yes, of course we were running late. Of course everything went wrong. What you think anything goes according to plan? For us? Really?
Saturday started out a little late. And I’ll take the heat on that one. It was all me. I thought we had more time than we did. What I didn’t keep in mind was that we were running with a skeleton crew. Justin our makeup guy was graduating this weekend. (Congratulations Justin!), but fortunately we’ve gleaned enough from him and we were either brave or foolish enough to go ahead anyways. Tim and Maria were doing tornado clean up (you can’t really plan for that one) and T had her daughter Kayli’s confirmation this weekend. (Congrats Kayli! Sorry we missed the party) .
So, I should have been thinking every minute counted. Instead my head was in a “we have time” and “it’s not a long shoot”. Well it is when there’s only four of you to do everything and you’re used to eight… We arrived in Vandalia a bit behind schedule (which actually worked out okay because Christian was having car trouble, so we stopped and got him on the way) got into our location, and then showed the cast why we wouldn’t be shooting there the next day (the foot of water in the basement).
Stanislavsky once said “There are no small parts, just small actors”. This weekend is proof positive of that. When I first wrote the script, which is very drama heavy, I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out. Is there enough talent in the area? Can these folks here in little old St. Louis bring the depth to these characters that they need? I mean, it’s St. Louis…. I don’t know if we’ve just been fortunate, or if there is an abundance of untapped talent in the area, but there have been so many amazing performers that have been involved with this project. Even the little parts. Kerri, Christian and DeHaven took these small roles, and really did some wonderful stuff.
We got DeHaven in makeup which took 2 hours, and that young man gets the “Trooper of the Week” award, for patiently sitting while his makeup was done, and then having the contacts put in. He’s a brilliant little talent, who takes direction amazingly well. So well that I got to try a couple of things just to see what worked and what didn’t. So big massive thumbs up for the little guy who delivered big!
Kerri played Brian and Jacob’s mom. She’s pretty, chatty (and I mean that in a good way) and has flawless, poreless skin. She looks wonderful on camera and is a lot of fun to shoot with. She’s got some real talent, and I really want to see her in a bigger role, because I know she could do wonders with it.
Christian, who was cast as John for Summer, but had to back out due to an injury, played Brian and Jacob’s dad. When he’s waiting for his takes, he’s quietly sitting outside, smoking a cigar, or listening to his iPod with his eyes closed. Despite being in a back brace (which I wanted him to keep on for shooting because it added some dimension to the character) he still was willing to try any suggestion I had. He’s the kind of actor that builds up to the performance. But once you explain what your wanting and he has a chance to physicalize it a few times, he’ll give that one great take, and you’re done and moving on…
Kerri and Christian took the brunt of it this weekend though. This was Clark’s last shooting day. And not only did we have to get them in makeup, but we had to carefully match the blood stains from the night before. And after all the time it took to get them in makeup, we set up and started shooting. The first two shots took next to no time to get right. It was the third that had the potential to be a problem. And it was…
I hoped we could get it in one take. It took six. We had to wait for makeup to be reapplied, and honestly, we only called cut when the stunt prop broke. But the last take did the trick. And after that we were wrapping up.
It was mothers day, and I had a cast and crew full of moms and people with moms, and I have to take a moment and publicly apologize for keeping everyone late. So to Kerri, Karen, and Mandy, sorry about that.
And then, it hit, like it always does… we’re finished with Winter. Now, you may imagine that it’s a bunch of high fives and jumping around and a victory lap. The reality is, for me anyway, it’s a quiet sense of relief and satisfaction. The thought that itches in the back of your head is “If this person leaves, we have to scrap everything with them in it…” You never feel completely safe until it’s over. So if anyone there thinks I was feeling let down… no, I wasn’t. It was more like the weight of the world was lifting. I really was and am in a great mood.
I wanted to make a big thing out of the last day of shooting Winter, but by the end of the day, I could tell everyone just wanted to go home. So did I. So we said our goodbyes. I can’t believe it’s almost over. We’re down to the last bits and pick up shots, almost a year after we started filming.
So this coming week, we may be shuffling some stuff, because they’re forecasting rain, as I edit furiously.
More to come. Stay tuned…
And the Last Day of Principal Photography is Upon Us
Ext:
Location CLASSIFIED
Details, details, details…
A million little annoying things to do, and a list of prep work the length of my arm, I did what any smart director does in this situation. I wrote a list and got the fuck out of town…
I debated actually going on the trip, but at the end of the day, I haven’t really had a weekend off since last August, and I really needed time to decompress, so off into the wild green yonder we went.
Three days in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service, a new sketchpad, and some quiet. A quick run through of the packing list…clothes… check….toothbrush… check… food… check…beer…check. And bad movies. Lots and lots of bad movies. Houston… we are clear for lift off!
This is a tradition that dates back years, where me and three friends go to remote areas of Missouri and take a projector and a movie screen and spend the weekend sampling films. Films that are so bad, we have to hide our shame in the remote areas of Missouri… When I say bad movies… I mean BAD movies. This years sampling: Piranha 2: The Spawning, Troll 2 (you know, the one with no trolls in it?!??!) , a Nicholas Cage film made in the last 5 years (’nuff said!), Machete, Transformers 2:Revenge of the Fallen, and the creme de la creme Nude Nuns With Big Guns (not making that up!) which I thought was actually better than Machete.
Why you ask?
Because Machete was a big film trying to look like a grindhouse movie. Nuns was a grindhouse movie, and pretty heavily influenced by Robert Rodriguez directing style. Thought you might want to know that in case you have to choose between the two… But really you don’t have to, and if you don’t I understand.
Now you may ask, “OMG did the Nicholas Cage film hurt?”
Yes. Yes it did.
Then you may also ask: “Why whould you do this? I mean, actually watch a Nicholas Cage Film, or any of the movies you watched?” Well, it’s an awful lot of fun, and we’re all MST3K fans. The other reason is, you can’t really appreciate a great movie unless you can figure out what makes a movie bad, and not everything can be an intellectual pursuit. Sometimes you just have to suffer through an unfiltered complete and utter crap bombardment, so that when you do sit down and watch Akira Kurasowa’s Ran, or Gattica, or Fight Club you really can appreciate just how great they really are. So, consider it research. Which also leads me to the conclusion that I can’t ever watch this movie objectively. So at the end of the day, as much as I love what I’m doing, I’m going to have to rely on the judgement of others when this is all said and done.
I could take a few lines, and try to make a larger point of all of this, but it would just come off as self-serving, and disingenuous. So, I think I’ll pass, and just let the movie we’re about to wrap up stand on it’s own, because I know it can.
That being said, I returned from the trip Sunday afternoon, and everything that needed to be taken care of was. So we’re all set. Just a few days until our last shooting days with Clark, and finally getting to shoot with Kerri and Christian, which I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time. (Christian was originally cast to play John, but suffered an injury in a car accident just as we were about to begin shooting.)
While on the trip I came up with the last of the movie poster concepts, and I’m probably going to let the cast pick there favorite. I’ve also been kicking around the idea of throwing them up here on the site, and letting our avid readers vote. So if you want to try and convince me, leave a comment, preferably one that doesn’t have a link to a site selling herbal Viagra or some other nonsense.
Much more to come. Stay tuned.
And the Last Bits Are On the Schedule
Int:
That same kitchen, that same computer…. but this time, with a new table. Let the redecorating begin!
So we took the weekend off, with it being Easter and all, so what seemed like it would be a boring weekend turned out to be a weekend filled with dotting “i”s and crossing “t”s instead.
We went through the last few bits of the script that have yet to be filmed, and contacted all of the folks who will be in those last bits. What was supposed to be a one day shoot, for the last pieces of Winter has turned into a two day shoot, because the basement that we had for our final location is currently filled with about a foot of water after all the seemingly endless rain. The props list and makeup are all sorted out, and the last shooting days of Winter are on the schedule, as well as our list of pick-up shots for Summer. Stuff that either needs to be reshot, or wasn’t shot in our race against the weather in November of last year, and wasn’t caught until we were assembling the finished piece.
So here we are, creeping toward the end. At this last big production and scheduling meeting, I told the rest of the crew that the plan is to submit to Screamfest LA, which has a deadline of June 6. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for post-production, but fortunately most of the editing is already done. So really all that’s left is to get those last few pieces taken care of.
The credit sequence is edited, but there were some typos (and I take full responsibility for those), some new poster concepts were shared, debated, and beat up and some were discarded. Then as all the planning and scheduling wound down, the main course was finally served. We watched the rough cut of Fall. I made one suggestion for one additional shot, and other than that and some audio cleanup, and sound effects to add, it is pretty much finished.
Coming to the end of the road for production, and part of me is relieved. Reviewing some of the behind the scenes footage, I guess I never really realized just how close a lot of this came to not happening. Once you’ve leap a hurdle, you don’t tend to think about it too much. It wasn’t until Kelly started showing me the behind the scenes footage she’s been going through, that I realized how many hurdles there have been. With the delays, and the recasting and the sometimes uncooperative weather, it really was a monumental feat to get this done.
I am so very happy with what we have at this point. I can’t wait to see the first audience reaction to it.
Then it’s wrap party time…
I wonder what life is going to be like when this movie isn’t taking every spare moment of my time. And I wonder what a full night’s sleep is like. Answers to these exciting questions and more coming soon!
The Last Shooting Day with Julian
Ext:
Vandalia, IL
A wet, nasty, cloudy day. Just chilly enough to be uncomfortable, but not quite cold. I think Yucky is the correct meteorological term. It was an intentional late start. We only had some pickup shots to do for the kitchen scene, and one last nighttime exterior scene. Not exactly a full plate, but it was the last bits we needed to wrap Winter up.
We got there late, and we started slow. Nobody was really in a hurry. It was Julian’s last shooting day.
I’m gonna take a minute and gush here. Julian is a director’s dream. Eager to get going, but willing to follow the pace. Knows his dialogue and his part from top to bottom, so you can switch gears, or change your mind as you need to. Quiet, polite, easy going, tireless. He brought this project home, and in a big, BIG way, and I can’t thank him enough for everything he brought to the role of Marcus. Without him, it would have been a very different movie, and I’m glad he found us.
We had some nighttime snow scenes to shoot, and we had a bit of trickery that had to happen to get that done in April, but I won’t bore you with the technical details, and just suffice it to say that I didn’t quite know how that scene was going to look, but having set it up and shot it, I don’t think anyone would ever assume that it was anything other than Winter.
It was a long, fun, quite kind of day. Julian’s final shot was no dialogue, and emotionally intense. Karen confessed she felt a little voyeuristic watching it. Like an awkward personal moment you really have no business being there for. It was difficult to watch. After Julian’s final shot, there was a round of applause from the crew, and we were getting the cast changed out of wardrobe. It ended at just about midnight, and we packed up and headed home.
The Fall sequence is in tweak editing, and the Title sequence is pretty much done. Down to one last shooting day. Actually, it’s probably going to turn into two. Our location for the basement scene has flooded with all the rain that April has brought us, so we will probably have to find an alternative location. On this project, it’s not the stuff you plan for that’s the problem, it’s the stuff you don’t (and can’t) that tend to jump up and bite you in the ass. And my cheek has fresh teeth marks on it.
More to come. Just really exhausted this week!
And Fall is Wrapped and Cut
Int:
The Turn of the Century Warehouse in Hannibal
One last long drive to Hannibal.
I don’t quite know why, but normally the drive to Hannibal seems to fly by, but this being the last time we’d have to make the trip, it felt like an eternity to get there. None of the regular cast had to make this trip. This was just crew and some extras. Maybe it’s because the Fall shoot was such fun, and I’m sad to see it end. Great cast, great location and just a general light hearted feel about things on set. No major technical hurdles. Even though it was cold, and long days, it was still a much easier shooting environment than Summer. We could control everything we were shooting and that meant far fewer headaches.
The big reason this Saturday was such a big deal was we were using a lot of the folks who have been working behind the scenes on the film. None of them are actors by trade, but I really wanted to include them in the film. They’ve earned their time in the spot light. I can only assume that spending all the time around so much talent, that it’s rubbed off a bit, because we really did get some spectacular performances in the three brief scenes that we needed to wrap up Fall.
I know the crew folk were a bit worried. If there’s one thing they’ve learned, it’s that I will shoot and shoot and shoot until I get the exact scene that I want. So you can only imagine my surprise when the most takes we had for a shot was five.
So we arrived at a little after noon, and set up at a leisurely pace. We had a lot of makeup to be done, which is always a time consuming process. And after all the set up, three hours later we were ready to roll.
The first sequence is just gross. No makeup, just a lot of nastiness. There’s some moving around as we’re trying to get the best shots, and in thirty minutes we’re wrapping that up. On to sequence two. The makeup was done, and after a bit of directing, moving some lighting around, doing a walk-through and a few test shots. Everything looked good. And we’re rolling again. Five takes, and we got the one we wanted. Next shot. A bit more directing, finding marks, lighting adjustments and boom, we’re wrapping sequence two up. We are a run away freight train today.
There’s a bit of a pause as we wait for makeup. Sequence three goes just as fast (now that I have my second camera person back, cleaned up and out of makeup…) Finally finished, this one took a bit more to get right, but still moving in a timely fashion. We get it lit, and blocked out, and we’re ready to go. We do two one take wonder shots back to back, and they’re brilliant, and the room is a bloody and disgusting mess, as are the extras. The behind the scenes pictures on the last one, look like crime scene photos…
Honestly, it took longer to get them cleaned up then it did to set up and shoot it.
And with that, we are officially wrapped on Fall.
The long drive home, and I’m immediately pulling footage and dropping it into the edit. By Sunday evening, I have the rough cut of Fall ready for review.
So it’s been a long weekend, but a fun one. Up next, we begin the final shooting for Winter. We’re somewhere between third base and home plate now, so not much longer. By my estimate, we have two shooting days left on winter, and then some pickup shots and we’re wrapped. The main credit sequence is nearly finished as well, so it’s been a busy, busy week. Very satisfying.
More to come as always!
Don’t forget to check out the teaser trailer! And we’re down to one small crew shirt left, and four mediums.
The Busy Quiet Weekend
Int:
That same damned kitchen…. you know the one.
So this weekend Julien was gone, and “The Mike™” was gone as well, so the decision was made to make this a post production and editing heavy weekend. I know I have a lot of these coming up, but I really wanted to try and get the Fall rough cut done, and some odds and ends stuff filmed.
After sitting down with the rest of the crew and discussing how we plan on marketing the film, and going through some stuff that is impossible to actually make sound interesting, we did some test shooting for the title sequences. In the rough cuts there are some title sequences that were originally animated, but wanting to stick the the visceral and practical look of the rest of the film, we decided to try some practical stuff. And while we didn’t actually get the finished version for the film, we definitely know exactly how we’re setting up up, and what techniques we’re going to be using for and what our lighting set ups will be.
The rough cut of Fall is almost completely finished, and looking pretty damned sweet. So much so, that I started cutting together some winter footage to boot. Some ideas for pick up shots were kicked around and a list of what’s left was made. There’s not much.
So we go back into full swing this coming weekend, and have scheduled to shoot both days. One in Hannibal and one in Vandalia. I look forward to the long drives coming to an end.
Don’t forget to check out the Teaser trailer. As we get closer to final cuts on everything we’ll be putting together the full length trailer, so keep an eye out for that!
That’s all for the moment. Stay tuned. More to come…
And the Freak Weather Delivers One Last Time.
Ext:
Foristell, MO
I’ve never considered myself lucky by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t win at cards even when I have the best hand, and I’ve never actually won a drawing, raffle, lottery, etc. Apparently I’ve been storing it up for this, so this is pretty much new ground for me. As luck would have it, we had another major freaky snow storm that blew in, and buried parts of Missouri in 5 inches of fluffy white stuff. We had planned on shooting them indoors in a controlled environment with a snow machine, but this saved us all that trouble. So quickly switching gears, we sprung into action to get the last few outdoor snowy segments filmed as quickly as possible.
What that really means is, nobody went to sleep before 3:00 AM. And we were up and moving by 8:00. Ugh… But our filming location was only a short 20 minutes away. So off we went. And after a speedy (for us) setup …and the final member of our crew finally earning her wings and getting pulled over… we were rolling. The temperature got warmer as the day went on, so we had to be careful how we framed shots, for fear of getting large melted areas that wouldn’t integrate with what was already shot. But it all worked out, and by 4:00 we were all wrapped up and finished.
On another note, because of the breakneck pace of Sunday’s shoot, along with some technical issues….we really didn’t have a chance to appreciate what we were doing it while we were doing it. But once we got back, I started editing footage together and once I got a chance to study the footage I have to say… just flat out… Julian gave a performance that was absolutely moving. Powerful, powerful stuff. He did what was on the page justice, and I can’t thank him enough for the time and effort and preparation that he brings to every shooting day.
The closer we get to finished, the weirder I feel about the whole thing. This month is the one year anniversary of our first casting call, and month 18 of production. It’s hard to imagine a week where this isn’t the first thing on my mind when I get up, and the last thing on my mind before I go to bed.
- The exact line where winter ends and spring begins….
So, now we just have to fill in the gaps. We have one night time shot for Winter, and some day time stuff left, and one shooting day for Fall. Some pick ups here and there and we’re done. Summer is in it’s second round of edits, Fall is about half finished with it’s rough cut, Winter is already being cut together as well.
On another note, we have another shirt design we are working on and we have decided not to order crew shirts again. So if you’ve been on the fence or you know you want one click here and get them before they’re gone. And the Teaser trailer is posted below, and also here.
This weekend is going to be a quiet one, as Julian is off to Atlanta, so finishing the title sequences, and editing will be kicking into high gear, with hopes of finishing the rough cut of Fall and piecing most of winter together.
As always, stay tuned!
The Teaser Trailer is Here
Almost There…
Int:
A windowless office, lined with movie posters and movie props.
After tempting fate for months by spending weekends in a warehouse with no heat and standing in the snow, the weather breaks, and of course, now I get sick. I’m miserable. My head feels like it’s been overinflated, and my eyes won’t quit watering from the sinus pressure and my ears feel like they’re stuffed with cotton. It probably didn’t help that I stayed up way too late last night tweaking Summer, but oh well.
So this past weekend we were shooting the interiors for winter. It turned out to be trickier that I expected. I wanted to use as much natural light as possible, but turns out, when you have windows that are boarded up, and slathered in blood, that cuts down the amount of light quite a bit.
Saturday we had to dress the set before we could start shooting. It didn’t take anywhere near as long as I expected it to, and after about an hour and a half, we were all set up and ready to go. It needed to have that neglected lived in look. And after all the weekends I’ve been gone doing this, I’m an expert on that subject. Just picked up enough to prove people live there, or as an old friend of mine (A.J.) would say: “Clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy.”
I think Julian had it worst of all. It was warm this past weekend, and he’s in some pretty heavy duty snow gear, so I know he was sweating his ass off both days. It seems like if I’m not freezing my cast, I’m cooking them. But he’s a quiet kinda guy, so absolutely zero complaints. And then there was the shots with him eating breakfast. I quit counting after ten, but I’m pretty sure that he’ll never want frosted flakes again. Ever. Take after take, he dutifully sold the shot, and took a bite or two; sometimes with condensed milk, sometimes with regular milk. I’m glad he doesn’t have a lactose intolerance. By the time we’re done shooting that scene, most of the box is gone. Karen has a huge cooking pan that she’s been dumping the cereal into between takes. It’s nearly full.
Of all the things I”ve seen while filming this, somehow, that pan filled with soggy nasty cornflakes is the most gross. (grossest? I don’t know what the correct grammar is here, so I’ll just finish this thought by stating that writing the blog is funner ;))
After hours of shooting the bedroom scene, we finally get to the kitchen scene. It’s a long scene, so I’m expecting it to take a while. We set up, get ready to roll, and then block out the scene. Now Julian must eat cold ravioli from a can. Somehow he’s gained 5 lbs. in one shooting day, but he’s managed to sweat off three. He’s a trooper throughout. Not a single complaint. It’s pretty hard to not like Julian. When he shows up, he shows up to work.
We wrap the days shooting, and while stuff is being packed up outside, I stand and play catch with Clark, Mandy and Julian. These are great people. Mandy is the perfect stage mom. She knows when to pop in, and she knows when to get out of the way. On Sunday she brings lunch for everybody. Julian somehow managed to eat. I’m sure he wasn’t too hungry though.
So we’re down to the last bits. We have one day of shooting for Fall that requires no cast, and two, maybe three days for Winter and we’re home. It’s a satisfying feeling. I’m sure we’ll have some small reshoots to do, and the occasional pick-up shot and insert shot, but we’re almost there.
It’s also a little sad that this journey has nearly come to an end.